Brewery
Original site: 18 Druid Street SE1 2HH (Southwark)
Production site: 11 Valley Point Industrial Estate, Beddington Farm Road, Croydon CR0 4WP (Sutton)
anspachandhobday.com
First sold beer: February 2014
When childhood friends and former musicians Jack Hobday and Paul Anspach won a homebrew competition, one of the judges, TV presenter and wine writer, Oz Clarke, suggested they turn professional. They were further encouraged when a homebrew sneakily entered in a commercial competition won a medal. Tasting samples were available under the name Alements in summer 2012 but it wasn’t until March 2014 that Jack and Paul opened the fifth new brewery in Bermondsey, restoring brewing to Druid Street after the Kernel’s relocation.
The first brewhouse was a very small 1 hl installation from ES Stainless Applications, also used by Bullfinch in its early days as a cuckoo. This was replaced only a few months later with a 4 hl PBC kit, then a new 14 hl brewhouse from Willis European was installed in 2016, with the old one sold to Affinity.
With no room for further expansion in the arch, in early 2020 A&H relocated production to an industrial unit at Beddington near Croydon, just across from Signal. The existing brewhouse was relocated here and remained in use, though with much-increased fermentation capacity and a new canning line. There is a taproom on the site though currently it opens only for special events.
The original site has been retained as a bar and barrel vault with some fermentation capacity. In in November 2018 the brewery added a pub in Camberwell, the Pigeon, but this closed in August 2022.
Further expansion followed a new crowd-funding round in November 2021, with a new nitrokeg dry stout, London Black, launched as a London-brewed alternative to big brands. This has proved a major success and has rapidly become the brewery’s best seller.
Beers are mainly keg and canned, with some specials hand-bottled in 750 ml and a small but increasing amount of cask.
Updated 4 September 2023.
Hasn’t Jack Anspach left now?
Jack Hobday, I meant!
Not sure where that one came from, Bryan. I was there earlier this evening and both Anspach and Hobday were present and correct!